Looking for the Wallpaper Sky
by Sei-sama
Summary: "Yeah, and...Bo." Failure is hard, especially when the punishment is losing your beloved. Looking at the time when Woody lost Bo.


**I was going to write up the second chapter of my stupid KND thing when I saw Toy Story 3.**

**I cried.**

**A lot.**

**I'm crying right now remembering all the things I cried at.**

**I even cry listening to the soundtrack! Especially one song near the end and I think most of you will know which one. (One day I want to make Pixar cry. Just to get back at them.)**

**So immediately afterwards, I went like, 'I have to write something for this oh god Pixar is so awesome aaaaaaaah' and it takes me TWO WHOLE WEEKS to write this stupid one-shot! I mean jeez! Two weeks? God! And this isn't even much of an original one-shot either! I'm pretty sure, though I haven't checked, that almost everybody and their ancient ancestors has written something along this line. But oh well.**

* * *

This was one rescue he couldn't _afford_ to screw up.

Woody peeked through the bushes as Andy's mom set up a few tables on the yard and dropped some boxes on them. Everybody had gotten anxious when she had announced she was going to 'clear up some clutter,' but nobody had expected her to take out nearly everything in the toybox. Mr. Spell, the monkeys, the bucket of soldiers, Wheezy…

And she had also taken Bo Peep.

Don't screw this up, don't screw this up, don't screw this up…

Woody watched as Andy's mom strode back inside to get out more boxes of 'junk.' As she walked through the door, the cowboy burst out of the bushes and pushed through the grass (they really needed to mow). With the experience of many previous rescue missions, he clambered up the table and, with all the strength cotton could muster, threw open the box.

When nobody peeked out or even asked 'who's there?', Woody jumped up and pushed himself slightly into the box. He immediately saw all his old friends, still frozen as though in the presence of people. Woody nervously looked over his shoulder before whispering, "Hey, guys!"

Wheezy and Lenny and the others who were on the top unfroze and gazed up at the cowboy. Wheezy cried with a genuine smile on his face, "It's Woody!"

"Yeah, I'm here. We're gonna sneak back inside. Is everybody here? Where's Bo?" As Woody continued to nervously look out for any bystanders, a lot of shuffling and an impromptu roll call ensued sounding a lot louder than it probably was.

"Yeah, everybody's here…so, uh, what's the plan…?"

"Alright, anybody easily breakable should get out of the box and wait for the rest of us to push it off the table and upside-down. Then they jump and we catch, we'll all go under and then start pushing towards the garage—"

"No."

A shocked silence. "What d'ya _mean_ 'no?' Who said that?" Most of the toys in the box looked around at each other, shrugging, before someone near the bottom started pushing others aside to be seen. The voice soon revealed itself to be that of the ceramic Bo Peep.

Woody paused, stunned once more, before remembering that they didn't exactly have a lot of time to spend. "Look, we can't argue now, we have to leave before Andy's mom comes back, we can talk later when—"

"I don't think you understand, Woody. There's no point." The usually warm face of the blonde was now as cold as her material and as Woody stared at her hard eyes, he couldn't help but shudder. "Do you really think nobody would notice a full box suddenly disappearing? Do you think that if we just 'happened' to be 'found,' then they'd just keep us? We're _unwanted_." At this word, the other toys started murmuring nervously so that Bo had to raise her cold, flat voice. "Yes, that's right! I said it! We're trash! And if you have any sense, Woody, you'd let us go. Or are you such a simpleton that you cannot see beyond the past?"

Woody buried his face in his hands for a second. As if things couldn't get any worse, now his girlfriend was being all nihilist on him. "Could you guys give us a moment alone? I need to speak to Bo for a little bit."

There was no way to find a completely private spot. Woody simply just dragged Bo Peep out to the other end of the table. He didn't need to look back to know that everybody was peeking over the box to watch.

Well, let them try and listen. "Bo," the cowboy said softly, glad to note that those in the box on the other side of the table were straining to even hear what he was saying. "I know this is a rather depressing time and…well, you're feeling a little useless, but trust me. You're anything but. I mean, Andy will definitely need you in the future, and everybody else will need you. I mean, you're a real smart gal! Where'd anybody be without you? And, well…I need you too. Because…" Woody paused to take a deep breath. He always felt a little uncomfortable and embarrassed putting his feelings right out in the open, but there was no turning back now.

"I _love_ you."

Bo allowed a small smile and Woody took that as a sign to grin back. Then her pale, porcelain face started cracking.

"Oh, Woody," she said as though she weren't breaking apart while Woody stared, horrified. More cracks spiderwebbed across her entire form. "Stop hiding. You know it's inevitable…" The sheep herder's form started to crumble and then simply turned to dust and flew away between Woody's fingers. As he looked up to follow the path of dust, he saw boxes all lined up to the horizon, all of them filled with old toys. He could see Buzz. And Jesse and Rex and Slinky…

_This is our fate._

The table tipped over and he fell, but there was nothing to land on. He kept falling and falling and falling and—

"Ow!"

Woody shot up, wide awake. Addled from the dream, he at first thought he was still in a horrible abyss, but looking around, he could make out the walls of the toybox and the figures of his friends. All of them asleep. Except for…

"There're nicer ways o' wakin' a guy up, Woody," Slinky drawled, shifting so he stood on his feet.

"Sorry, Slink. Didn't mean to, uh, kick you."

"Aw, it's alright." The dog's metal coils whispered against each other as he crawled closer to the cowboy, careful to avoid stepping on anybody else. "Didn't hurt that badly."

The two of them sat together, listening to the slow breaths of Andy just outside. If nothing else, it was a comforting sound. He was still out there, quite near to them.

"'Nother nightmare?" Slinky asked quietly.

"No. It's nothing. Just…go back to sleep."

"Woody, my rump can't take much more kickin', y'know?" Slinky chuckled, but it died as the cowboy didn't join. The hesitation turned into a pause, which then grew into an uncomfortable silence. Another metallic rustle as the dog considered leaving him alone, but he quickly turned back.

"D'ya wanna…talk?"

"Not particularly."

"I don'…well, seein' you all depressed like, it, well, I can't just leave yuh like that." No answer. "I ain't dumb. I know that…that I'm…bein' a bother t' you now…but friends don' just ignore friends in need, y'know? So just so you know, I'm gonna sit right here 'til you stop bein' so stubborn." Still nothing.

Slinky stopped again. He was about to tread on dangerous waters here…everybody agreed never to mention her name again. But…

"It's 'bout Bo, ain't it."

Woody let out a heavy sigh and finally turned his head slightly to look back at Slinky. "It's about a lot more 'n that. But yeah, Bo's a big part of it."

When he turned back to stare at the walls again, Slinky approached a little more, still feeling hesitant and way out of his league. After thinking for a bit, he said, "Well, maybe I'm sayin' a whole load o' nothin' here, but I don' think Bo'd like you mopin' 'round like this."

"Oh really?" Woody replied, actually turning around fully this time to stare down at Slinky. "She would want me to be happy, right? Well _excuse_ me, but I'm finding that a little hard right now. I…" A pained look crossed the cowboy's face, which he quickly covered up by putting it in his hands. "…I loved her."

The dog balanced carefully on his hind legs so he could pat Woody's shoulder. "Present tense, pal. You _love_ her. Fer one thing, you still love her, an' I think that'll go on for a loooong time. An' it's not like Bo's dead."

"But she's not _here_. And I don't see how _you_ know how she is right now," Woody snapped, pointedly glaring over his shoulder.

Slinky either ignored the glare or simply didn't notice. "Aw, c'mon, Woody, a pretty gal like her? She'll be taken care of an' admired wherever she goes! O' course, nobody but _you_ gets her attention. She'll be sittin' on a…a nightstand, maybe, all proper like, missin' you th' way yer missin' her, an' all these guys'll be cursin' yer name. 'Damn that Woody! 'f only I were that lucky son uv a gun!'" This seemed to get at least a small smirk from his friend. Encouraged, Slinky grinned wider and continued. "Yer star-crossed lovers, you an' her, an' lovebugs like you two _always_ gets happy endings! It'll turn out okay in the end."

"Ever hear of Romeo and Juliet?" Woody shot back, finally entering a bantering mood.

"Shakespeare's overrated," Slinky replied dismissively. "I'm talkin' first class romance, y'know. C'mon, certainly _you_ could see it too! A bonny lass, shown off to all, but only meant fer one!"

"You?"

"_You_, ya moron!" The dog grinned back, shoving Woody's shoulder lightly as the cowboy chuckled. "She'll be shown 'round and 'round, passed on as a nice gift, 'cause y'know she makes a perfect gift, bein' such a perfect gal, an' then! Coincidences of coincidences! She's circled back here with us an' reunites with her one true love." The two gave an appreciative silence for the impromptu story the dog had weaved up.

"Like that sort of thing happens," Woody scoffed.

"Shaddup! You just ruined one o' them moment things we were havin' there!" Slinky whapped Woody on the side of his head and the two laughed until they almost woke the others up before Slinky went down on all fours once more. "So…you feelin' better now, Woody?"

The cowboy stared down into hopeful, worried eyes. Slinky's head was tilted and one of his large, floppy ears was slightly cocked.

He couldn't share his other thoughts.

"Yeah, thanks," Woody smiled wanly, trying to pass it off as a smirk. Slinky beamed happily at being useful and his tail wagged excitedly. Somehow, that made Woody's smile real.

"Now go back to sleep! I've kept you up enough already as it is!"

"Gotcha," Slinky chirped back, turning around towards his spot and curling up tight. "G'night!"

"You too, Slink."

Woody lay down again, crossing his arms behind his head. He stared up at the lid of the toybox and pretended it was the wallpaper sky.

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**I hate making author notes at the end because I feel it really distracts the readers, but I wanted to point out a few things without giving anything away at the beginning. First, yeah, I know, Buzz was probably a better choice with pep talking or something, but I dunno, I feel a little uncomfortable writing our little space ranger. Also, I love Slinky. I loved him ever since I first saw him. So yeah. Second thing, I had a little trouble whether to say 'sky wallpaper' or 'wallpaper sky', but the second one has a rather poetic ring to it and I think you can understand the meaning behind it anyways. Well, I hope you do. If you don't, that just means I'm a horrible writer and aaaaaaaah. Anyways, thanks for reading. Reviews would be nice, hint hint.**


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